State Police arrest teenager on charges of impersonating an officer

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By Brian Ballou and Todd FeathersGlobe Staff and Globe Correspondent
March 28, 2013

An 18-year-old Revere man with an extensive criminal history that includes multiple armed robberies and impersonating a police officer was charged in Chelsea District Court today with yet another impersonating offense, after police found him with a false badge and a BB gun that closely resembles the type of handgun police are issued.

Sandro Anaya was ordered held on $50,000 cash bail stemming from a March 23 stop, when officers discovered the BB gun, handcuffs, a “special police” badge, a black folding knife, a black baton and a yellow warning light on his person or in his car. Police stopped him after he allegedly made an illegal turn. Anaya was allegedly driving, with a limited learner’s permit, a vehicle that had been reported as stolen.

“What’s beautiful about me is that I’m universal, I patrol Revere, Chelsea, Lynn, Boston everywhere,” the defendant allegedly told police during the March 23 stop.

The defendant repeatedly mentioned going on patrols, according to prosecutors.

After the March 23 arrest, Anaya posted $1,000 bail and was supposed to appear in Chelsea District Court Monday on charges of impersonating an officer and receiving a stolen vehicle but never showed up, said State Police spokesman David Procopio.

He was spotted in Maverick Square Thursday morning and arrested on a warrant for the March 23 offense.

Today, Anaya stood stoically in the courtroom behind a clear barrier, as his attorney pleaded not guilty on his behalf.

He already had two other outstanding warrants, one out of Suffolk Superior Court for multiple counts of armed and unarmed robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon, and five counts of impersonating a police officer. The other warrant is out of Norfolk County for armed robbery.

Anaya was released from prison in February after serving two years for a string of armed robberies in Revere, Chelsea, Boston, and Stoughton, said Revere Police Lieutenant Amy O’Hara. When he was stopped March 23, he was in violation of his parole.

Anaya, who was called “Chief” by his associates, targeted young kids walking at night whom he suspected were troublemakers, O’Hara said.

He would identify himself as a police officer to his victims — showing a fake police badge and sometimes dangling handcuffs or holding a BB gun — and demand their IDs. He would then confiscate their wallets, cellphones, and backpacks, O’Hara said.

On some occasions, he would even tell his victims to wait while he returned to his vehicle and Googled them to see if they had criminal records that he could exploit, O’Hara said.

A woman who identified herself as a relative of the defendant attended the arraignment but declined to comment afterwards.